Gophers run stuffer Kyler Baugh embraces his small-town Oklahoma roots

Kyler Baugh wasn't a four-star recruit out of high school in 2019. He did not receive scholarship offers from the Oklahomas and Texases of the college football world. Instead, he ended up at an FCS-level school, eager to prove he belonged.

Four years later, Baugh has done that and more. He parlayed his three seasons at Houston Baptist University into a Big Ten career with the Gophers, for whom he enters the 2023 season as a second-year starter and key cog on the interior defensive line.

How did he get here? Just ask his high school coach.

"He's just a small-town kid out of Nowhere, Oklahoma," Kelly Gravitt said. "He's an All-American boy."

In Baugh's case, Nowhere, Okla., actually is Talihina, Okla., a town of about 925 tucked in the southeastern corner of the state. Baugh played for Gravitt for four years at Talihina High, a school with an enrollment of roughly 175 students, putting its football team in Class A, the smallest of the state's six 11-man classes. It's that small-town, small-school background that drives Baugh to succeed on bigger stages.

"I've just got a chip on my shoulder to prove to everybody that I can do it," the 6-2, 305-pounder said.

And prove it he has for the Gophers. After joining Minnesota as a transfer following the 2021 season, Baugh secured a starting job in training camp last year and didn't let go. He posted 36 tackles, tops among the team's defensive linemen, and added 1.5 sacks on his way to being named All-Big Ten honorable mention.

Baugh came on strong down the stretch, collecting five tackles against Iowa in November and capping his season with three tackles and a half-sack in the Pinstripe Bowl win over Syracuse.

Baugh expects to build on that success this season and wants to develop his all-around game. The Gophers ranked next-to-last in the Big Ten with 19 sacks in 13 games last year, and new defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III is charged with improving that figure. To help that, Baugh knows they need more of a push from the middle.

"There's been a lot of emphasis on pass rush, especially since Winston's been here," Baugh said. "It's very important for us because last season, it wasn't the best on the inside in the pass rush. We have to change that."

As an interior lineman, Baugh tries to learn from the best in the game. He lists the Los Angeles Rams' Aaron Donald, the Atlanta Falcons' Grady Jarrett and the Buffalo Bills' Ed Oliver as those he tries to emulate. Baugh wants to match the trio's tenacity.

"They've got a really high motor," he said. "They just don't allow themselves to get blocked. That's how I play. I try to be full speed all the time."

Gophers offensive guard Quinn Carroll can vouch for that. When asked which of the Gophers defensive linemen is the most difficult to face, Carroll immediately responded, "Kyler Baugh is one stout dude. He's fun to go against."

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Gravitt quickly saw the potential in Baugh, who was the waterboy for Talihina High as a sixth grader and three years later was playing for the Tigers. The coach used him in a variety of roles, from running back to linebacker to defensive line and even at quarterback as a 265-pound senior starting in the fourth game of the season.

"When I made the move, we lost [only] one game and it was a playoff game," Gravitt said. "I should have done it earlier."

Be it at linebacker or defensive line, Baugh was highly productive in high school, combining for 241 tackles in his junior and senior seasons. Gravitt credits Baugh's determination.

"He came up through the ranks as a freshman and got beaten on every day by the upperclassmen," Gravitt said. "Here's a kid that knew what he truly wanted as a football player. … He just showed that he wanted a little bit more than the others."

Now with the Gophers, Baugh draws upon that underdog mentality and has found a home that meshes with his goals.

"I love the culture here," he said. "That was the eye-catching thing to be here. I like what they're doing here. And I love playing in the Big Ten."